Cheryl Burke Urged Tom DeLay to Quit Dancing

Cheryl Burke may not have been thrilled about having to leave Dancing With the Stars so early, but she realizes it was the only step Tom DeLay could have made.

"He talked to me a few days before," the Dancing pro said last night at Hollywood Life's Hollywood Style Awards, where she was given the Choreographer Award by her former partner Gilles Marini.

"It was during rehearsal when he could only rehearse 30 minutes a day," she said. "I could see it was getting worse. I offered it to him. I said, 'Tom, you don't have to continue, honestly. I don't think it'd be good for you."

DeLay, as DWTS fans know, announced his departure from season nine after last week's performance show because he was suffering from fractures in both feet.

But we haven't seen the last of this pair...

"I think it was something that he had to do," Burke said. "When someone's injured like that, it's hard to dance around that. He needs to take a break, but we are invited to dance the Texas two-step" at the end of the season.

"It's a little bit weird to leave the show this early," she continued. "I haven't left the show this early since Wayne Newton, which was season four!"

So who is Burke rooting for now?

"Every week is probably going to change," she said. "But my favorites right now are Kelly Osbourne and Chuck Lidell."